FateX: Return of the Holy Grail War
by Velison
Summary: A century has passed since the events of Fate/Stay Night. The descendants of Shirou, Rin, and Illyasviel become participants of the 6th Holy Grail War, along with new mysterious OC Masters. Please provide constructive reviews due to it's length. All OC.


**Author's Note:All of these characters are OCs. Most of the main characters are descendants of the original characters in Fate/Stay Night, with a few references to Fate/Stay Night's historical background. I wanted to try something new and fresh without the original characters having the spotlight despite the fact it is only natural in Fan Fiction. I've done some long planning for my characters and I'll try my best to make them likable. :)**

**Another Note:Please note that when the term "Father" is used in this prologue, it is the term people would use to call a priest in church, NOT the term people used to call their dads, just in case of confusion in reading.**

**Prologue – A New Hero. A New Grail**

_January 31st __2111 A.D. – Magus Association (Unknown Country Location)  
A century since the 5th Holy Grail War._

"It is nearly complete"

I hear a man's voice only one or two metres in front of me. The pain of death spreads towards every corner of my body. My whole vision is white, everything blanked out. My heart stopped a while ago, so how are my lungs still breathing? I hear footsteps coming towards me as I lay facing up. What are they going to do to me? Even the struggle of my breath is so loud I cannot make out the words the men are discussing. Until suddenly...

"ARRGH"

The object that pierced my chest thrusts out. I don't know whether it was a sword, a spear, or just a knife. But it felt like poison to the skin. My body rapidly heats up, my breathing stops. I start to feel numb.

"Poor boy, to be used his whole life like this. Such a waste of one's life, really. But you boy, your life is nothing to the Holy Grail. We, the Magus Association will revive the Holy Grail. This is the new era, this is a new time. The Holy Grail will be reborn."

"We'll use this boy's body to act as a catalyst. The mana flowing in his body should be enough to store the spirit of the Grail."

The first guy made me really want to punch him in the face, while the other seems to be more eager about summoning this Holy Grail thing. But what's so important about me? Why do I have to be the one to suffer? This is bullshit. Everything is bullshit. I want to move my body but I can't. The sound of the discussion starts to muffle. Is this it? Am I about to die here for nothing?

"Decapitation, commence."

I can feel the weapon swing towards my neck. I don't want to die, not just yet.

Everything suddenly falls silent.

"!... What?"

The man suddenly holds back in shock.

I can definitely feel the weapon, no, the axe pierce my neck now that it's come in contact. My body suddenly shakes; the pain around my body suddenly disappears. At this point I really can't tell if my heads been detached from my body. My vision starts to clear, and the sight of the axe pierced deep at my neck was easily noticeable. I should have died right here, but why is my body functioning normally? My right hand suddenly grabs the axe as if it was moving on its own, and then viciously pulls the weapon out of my neck. The pain becomes very instant for a moment, and again, instantaneously goes away just like the rest of my body. I put my left hand around my neck to stop the blood from spilling further. But there weren't any scars; my neck has completely healed.

I get up from the table where my body was placed. My emotions are mixed with fury and confusion. I tightly clenched my right hand on the handle of the axe. Knowing that I nearly died here for no apparent reason made me pissed; my anger became more absorbed than my confusion. I start to breathe heavily; I can feel something burning through my blood. The burning becomes sharp as my body pumps with violent adrenaline. I stare at both men, memorizing their faces. They both stare into my eyes with fear. Funny; they were looking down at me just a moment ago as if I was helpless and now they look at me as if I was something like a monster.

"So this is... A magus' full power?"

The man on the left who looks like some sort of priest calls me a magus. I don't know what a magus is, but if this adrenaline burning through my blood is something to do with having magus powers, then maybe I can finally do something good. No, I must be hallucinating.

"What the hell do you want from me?" I asked boldly, and really pissed. My voice sounded so roughened I even noticed the murderous intent in my voice.

The other man on the right starts laughing which made me feel uneasy. His smile had a killer instinct. He walks forward as if ready to fight.

"I can sense a strong energy flowing through you, such an overwhelming amount of mana; though a simpleton such as you cannot be a magus. A magus is someone who studies the arts of magic and knows their place as a magus in this world. But a mere child like you, who knows nothing of magic, is only but just a fool."

That crossed the line. This asshole immediately assumes I'm a mere fool just because I know nothing about magic. I'm fine with the fact I don't know anything about being a magus, but to assume about whom I am and to look down at me just like that. This asshole really wants it now.

"I don't give a shit about whether I'm a magus or not. What pisses me off even more is that you didn't answer my question." I grunted.

Without a second thought, I charged fiercely. The speed of my body was unimaginable. It was inhuman. I charge the axe towards him as he countered the blow with small knives. I leapt back. He revealed a group of blades between his fingers in both his hands.

"The Church and the Magus Association don't answer to simpletons such as you" The man smiling again. And quickly charges towards me with his knives.

That pissed me off even more.

Every blow he struck I countered faster with the axe. At the same time the man seemed very professional the way he fought. Why am I even thinking about these things in close combat? What's even weirder is that I don't know how to even fight, but my body just seems to move naturally predicting every movement of the man.

There's no time to think about these things. I notice the man starting to struggle with his movements, as I started to move faster. The struggling expression on his face gave me an ego boost. I guess that's what he get's for trying to assume my personality.

Desperate, his blows become stronger, but falters as his movements become slower due to the increasing strength. Each strike becomes more easily dodged. I've never realised how easily I'm analysing combat at this moment. Once more he faltered, but it was more obvious. He swung his left arm with massive strength, but was obviously was dodged with my speed, while his right hand was in the air due the fact his left arm gave the more strengthened blow, leaving his abdominal area open. This was the easy part for me; I jolted to my left, with full strength brought my knee up and kicked his abdominal area, his body slightly ascending towards the air after the blow as his body bent forward at the same time. This is no time for me to hold back; I continued to attack. My right hand with the axe just below my hip, as I bring my fists up towards his face, the blow landing below his chin. The uppercut had his body flying a few metres in the air. I can start to smell the boiling blood pumping throughout my body. My violent adrenaline becomes abnormally stronger. The desire to kill had become stronger. As his body flew in the air, I jumped quickly and swiftly a few metres into the air, although it is impossible to even jump this high; as I started to land the final blow, twisting my whole body as I executed the round house kick his head. His body launches across the church-like place, crash landing on the altar. The impact left a large fog of dust throughout the church. I couldn't make out where he landed or the position he was in.

"To even best one of our finest executors..." I suddenly noticed the other man who was standing there watching while in shock. He seemed to be more serious-toned rather than have an attitude just like the guy that crashed into the altar.

My senses suddenly react to fast-paced movements. This wasn't the speed of the man I was just fighting; it was something much faster. I look straight forward in the fog of dust. A knife launches from the fog flying straight towards my face at full speed. With pure luck my reaction was just a slight bit faster than the knife and flew past my right ear, cutting only a few strands of hair. Any closer and that would've been a deep cut to the right side of my face. I jump immediately predicting that more blades would launch on surprise. More blades launch towards the direction I had just jumped from. Just as I thought, if I had jumped just when they started launching then it would have been already too late for me. A final blade shot through the air towards where I was jumping; I was stupid not to realise he would throw an extra while the others were only bluffs. I quickly drew my axe and blocked the final blade as I struggled to land on my feet caused by the surprise attack.

I hear a sudden applause coming from the smoke.

"Marvellous! Just marvellous indeed" The figure of the man appearing from the smoke as he walks out unharmed.

I ready my stance with my right hand tightly clenched on the axe.

"You just don't give up do you, asshole?" I make a rhetoric statement.

"Hmph, I find this quite an interesting. You're quite the entertainer, boy" The man reveals more knives between his fingers.

We both ready ourselves, preparing our footing position ready to prance at each other.

"That's enough, Lux". The other man watching the fight interferes between the both of us.

Lux retracts himself and returns to stand in a normal position. "Apologies, Father Kotomine"

"Continue this fight and you would have already lost, Lux" Something surprising comes out of the other man's mouth. The so-called man named Lux twitches as if something was held against him. Hell, even I'd be pissed if the priest would have told me that.

"But Father-"

"That's enough; I've seen enough to decide whether this boy should live or not. Despite the fact of him not being a magus, the mana that flows within his body is quite unimaginable, and more than enough for him to become a magus, no, not just a magus, even a master with the potential of summoning the most powerful servant of them all. I am very well surprised myself to see such a free spirited young boy such as him to embody such an amount of mana" The priest says something as it praising me. I stand there listening in shock, whether I should feel better about myself. He turns to me then smiles.

"So, what is your name?" He smiles in high spirits.

That's a question that people could easily answer. If only I could answer it just as easily. I never knew who I was my whole life. I spent my life living on the streets not knowing of my heritage. I had no name and had no one to take care of me. Oddly enough, I was healthy and had no physical problems. Despite the fact of having no education I knew very well the kind of world we live in, and the social expectations of the average people. But it comes down to this one question. 'What IS my name?'

"... I don't have a name. To be honest, I don't even know who I am." I answered nervously at first, but felt confident after answering it.

"I see... We were wrong to think of you as such a ravage beast roaming the streets as if you had intentionally abandoned your heritage. The mana we had sensed from you was too great, we did not expect of such an amount coming from a person such as you. Don't get me wrong, I am not insulting you in any means necessary. But now we know that you had nothing your whole entire life has changed our perspective. I apologise"

The man's words really enlighten me, but I wonder why they would need me and this 'mana' of mine to use it for this Holy Grail thing.

"Can I ask you one thing?" I ask the priest.

"Ahh, you still want to know why we brought you here, my apologies for going off-topic. You see, the magus association and the people of the church had a strong alignment a hundred years back, and the Holy Grail was completely destroyed a hundred years ago also. The Holy Grail, a holy wish-granting device that performs miracles that even surpasses supernaturalism and reality. But the church and magus association's goals are quite simple. Our goal is to obtain a metaphysical location that exists outside of time. It is a force that exists at the top of all theories and dimensions; the root of all knowledge, Akasha. We wish to use the Holy Grail as a path to reach this goal. Although the Holy Grail and its contents were permanently destroyed a century ago, with enough mana, we can bring it back." I sort of understood the whole concept of mana, but why go through all the trouble to reach the root of all knowledge? The Holy Grail is more than enough for one thing. This is all too much for me to take in all at once.

"Though this is not the case; not anymore at this point anyway. Although that was our original intent, I was only wasting my breath. The battle fought just now with you and Lux, the force between you two had enough mana to draw attention to the Holy Grail's spirit. I don't know what caused it. But the energy channelling through the church was easily present. The moment you both drew weapons in combat has exposed such a mass of mana. The Holy Grail's spirit form had called us, thus why you have faltered, was it not, Lux?" The priest claimed as if objecting his first explanation, looking at Lux.

"Ngh... Yes that is correct." Lux seems to hold back his words, giving a blank straight forward answer.

Weird though, I couldn't tell if anything was present at all. I was so engulfed in my own anger everything to me was straight blind in fighting Lux.

"Hey uhh... Mr..." Having no idea what to call the priest.

"Father Kotomine, of the holy church. But just call me father" The old priest smiles.

"... Father Kotomine, I didn't really feel anything..." I said worryingly. It was odd they both men knew what the presence of the Holy Grail felt like, but I only felt violence and rage.

"Mmm, that is something you needn't worry of. The vast mana throwing through your body during battle was too overwhelming for you to notice. It is only normal, especially during combat" explained Father Kotomine.

"Furthermore, the Holy Grail's powerful attraction to a large amount of mana produced from a physical being chooses it to be its catalyst. Therefore, the moment you had channelled your mana throughout your body, the Holy Grail can easily enter you, thus the reason why you did not sense its presence. It synchronizes its mana and infuses with your body. "

"So that means... I become the Holy Grail?" I ask wondering whether I should be proud of it or not.

"That would be the case, but whether it is fortunate or unfortunate for you, the church has already set up a magical barrier where we had originally used the mana in your body to attract the Grail's spirit form. Therefore, we had to kill you to see whether your body could provide a better catalyst instead of the replica the church had already constructed, but the fact that the Holy Grail's spirit had summoned itself a lot earlier than expected; the fight that commenced with Lux had further delayed this possibility. In short, the magical barrier had prevented the Holy Grail from entering your body, and ended up in the replica we constructed instead, deep inside this church." Father Kotomine explains raising his head as if he was expecting something from me.

As I look towards Lux, he seemed very contempt that I hold such able power. He didn't seem to accept any of this, but was faced with the cold hard truth. I don't know why he would look down at me in the first place, but whatever it was, I didn't like it a single bit.

After having a mouthful of information about the Holy Grail, I was curious about one more thing. He said something about me being some sort of 'potential master'. This was the last and only thing on the back of my mind.

"Father, I have one more question in mind." I tried to claim boldly.

"I am in open arms; you are free to ask whatever you have in mind" He smiles cheerfully again.

"What did you mean I had the power to become a Master?" I asked what I had to.

"Ahh, I saved the most important till' last. In order for the Holy Grail to perform its needed 'miracles' it must be rightfully earned first. The Holy Grail must perform a ritual. This may not seem like a ritual to any ordinary being, but that is the only way the Holy Grail could be activated. This ritual is named The Holy Grail War: Where the grail itself chooses seven suitable magi, to become masters. These masters must be able to summon a familiar, to fight for them, called servants. These familiars are a special exception to what you think is to your knowledge of vocabulary. Familiars are often classified as some sort of figure with a shape or form of an animal. The familiars aren't animals in the case of the Holy Grail War. What you must summon, are heroic spirits, names that are famous throughout the course of history, these are known as servants. But in order for the servant to exist in this world, the master must be able to suffice enough mana to their servant. Although this is not necessary for a master, a servant is already provided with their own mana, but it is recommended for the master to provide mana as a bonus in order for their servant to gain extra advantage." Father Kotomine plays with the cross chained around his neck.

"So why can't it just be the masters who fight?" I wondered.

"The unfair advantages in social status can be troubling. Due to the advanced technology and easy access to weaponry, some wealthy masters are able to obtain dangerous weapons and can easily kill the other masters. Though that is only a trivial reason, the main reason to why other a Servant must be summoned to fight is that the Holy Grail would be in spiritual form. Although we too have reasons to want the Holy Grail, servants also have a reason to fight, as some have regrets about their past life, and besides that, it is only the Holy Grail that can be touched by the servants who are also in spiritual form. As I forgot to mention, the Holy Grail does not have a physical form, thus only the servants are the ones to grant their masters wish along with their own."

That makes me wonder, what kind of personality servants could have. Despite the fact that they're heroes of different ages, they wish to redo their past. But I guess human personality hasn't changed since ever.

Trying to recollect the information the priest had explained to me, I have to calm down and think straight for a moment.

"So in short, I have to summon a servant to fight for me, but these servants might be historical heroes of the past, whether good or evil, and I must provide sufficient mana for them to even take part" I restated the priest's explanation briefly.

"That is correct. Not only that, in order to summon these heroes, you must obtain a legitimate relic that was either used or owned by the hero whether be a strain of hair, weapon or armour, to be able to summon it. It is rare to find such objects, but due the connections of the magus society, masters are able to obtain these relics much more easily."

A relic to summon a servant... Where am I even supposed to get something like that?

"Hmm? Your facial expression seems as if you're already accepting to fight in the Holy Grail War?" Kotomine raises his eyebrow in amusement. Not that I think it's a bad thing or anything.

"Please continue, father" I waved both my hands signalling not to worry about it.

Father Kotomine cleared his throat and continued.

"As I was saying, in order to summon your servant, you are in need of a relic. The power of the servant is ranked on whether how famous they can be, and when summoned, their form and look are completely changed due to their characteristics portrayed throughout history. This is not always certain though; some can be summoned exactly as they were in their actual past life. Not that it is irrelevant to know this, it may help in a sense to know what type of hero your servant could be and how you will be able to strategize on how to utilize their power." Kotomine continued.

I pause for a bit to understand the situation I am in, while Father Kotomine seems to stand there giving me the time to think about it. Now that I think about, I guess it wasn't his righteousness that brought me here and have me killed. He was nicer than that, a true senior of his age. I take a deep breath signalling that he can continue.

"You now have the general concept on how to summon a servant. But the servants are divided into seven of these main classes: Saber, Archer, Lancer; these three are main knight classes and is said to be one of the most powerful of the servants. The remaining servants: Rider, Caster, Assassin, are also very powerful servants, depending on the familiar of course. And the final class: Berserker, one of the most dangerous of them all. The reason why I say this is because the majority of the masters who have previously participated in the Holy Grail War were unable to control Berserker, thus losing their life in the process. The way Berserker is used in the Holy Grail War is the most unique of all the servants. This class has a special trait, called the 'mad enhancement', which forces to trade the hero's sanity and consciousness, for an extraordinary boost of power. This is usually ideal for weaker heroes, as they face much more powerful servants, but there are some cases where even a powerful heroic spirit was summoned as a berserker class, where their power reaches to the extent of more than godly. This easily drains too much mana from the master as a consequence. Though, seeing your power... No, I mustn't get the wrong idea. You are an inexperienced magus" After having to explain the rules to me Kotomine says something that caught me by surprise.

I apparently have the power and enough mana to summon and control even a powerful Berserker...

"I apologize, even with the vast amount of mana you have channelled you aren't experienced enough to control Berserker" The priests trying to take back what he said convincing me not to even attempt this.

I'm not sure whether he's worried about my life ending or the fear Berserker himself roaming free if I ever had been killed.

"You needn't pity me, Father Kotomine" I say something completely snappy even shocking myself.

The priest stands there knowing that he could not retract his words. He gives a sigh in worry but also giving a gesture that he supports whatever I'll do. I feel relieved to know that he supports my decision. On the other hand, Lux just stands there looking as if I don't belong. I find it understandable if he wants to be my enemy then I don't see a reason to change that. Despite all this happening instantaneously, I can suddenly feel I can do something right with my life, and change the course of the world.

A sudden sharp pain suddenly flows throughout my right arm. I feel a burning worse than what I had I had originally felt when I woke up from this place. My right arm shakes but the pain becomes unbearable.

"UGH..."

I kneel on the floor tightly grabbing my arm in pain, and then the back of my right hand starts to feel a burn much worse, as if something was drawing on my hand with boiling coal. As I look down at my hand three blood-red symbols draws themselves simultaneously on the back of my hand. This was the painful burning feeling.

"ARGH...!" I screamed in pain which was sharp for a moment but slowly disappeared along with the rest of my arm afterwards.

"That, my boy is the command seal" I hear the voice of the priest as I kneel in front of his feet surprised at this symbol. I get up after feeling a bit awkward kneeling in front of him.

"Command Seal...?" I asked completely clueless.

"That is correct. The Command Seals confirms that the Holy Grail has chosen you to become a master. Not only that, but these symbols are used as disciplinary use against a servant. It restrains or reinforces the actions of a servant, into the point of making them do impossible actions. But if given such a vague command to the servant, the spell will grow much weaker. So be very specific in how you should command use your command spells on your servant. And most of all, that was the most and yet important piece of information of the Holy Grail War" Kotomine smiles in confidence.

"I never thought the Holy Grail would return this easily after the contents had been destroyed completely so long ago. But now, a whole century has passed since the last Holy Grail War; each war reoccurring in a period of every sixty years. But this has got to be the longest spanning period between any Holy Grail War in its history. I don't know what the other master's intentions were in destroying it. But this time, you my boy, I believe you may change the world. The church and association may want it for Akasha, but we'll still believe whatever choice you make whether the Grail should fall into your hands, we'll believe that your decision was right one."

I smile with unexpected joy hearing words coming from a guy that just nearly killed me. Other than that, I'm ready to fight.

"No Father, it is just you who believes in him" Lux interrupts the moment.

"If any of my own students from the association were to become a master, I will ensure you will be the first to fall in their hands" Lux snickers. I found his ignorance towards me something that I didn't even care to notice of at that point.

"Reckless as usual, Lux" Father Kotomine shakes his head.

"The preparation of the Holy Grail will take around five years for it to fully complete. In the mean time, take this. A token specifically from the church" Kotomine gives me some sort of Holy amulet.

"There's a private magus living atop the mountains in Tibet. Show him this amulet; there you will be trained as a magus in the next five years. This magus is very dangerous, and knows more about magic than any other book on any shelf. Other than that, he is an old friend of mine whom I trust with my life. He is nature is very calm, but what he will teach you will danger your life. One more thing, he holds many heroic relics, but there is one exception that might interest you. You will know when you get there" He explains as he helps me get ready to leave.

"Are there any last questions wish to be answered?" He hands me a bag filled with travelling resources.

"Just one this time: How are you going to obtain the Holy Grail as a master?" I showed no expression as I asked wanting a truthful answer.

"I was afraid you were going to ask that question. That is the reason Lux is present here. He is a representative from the Magus Association. Of course the name speaks for itself, but because the Holy Grail must only select a magus to become a master, I called Lux here to help provide me with a suitable master. Although it wasn't his choice to become one himself, he had promise me that one of his own students will participate the war. As much as I don't know of this younger generation, it is certain that the participants of this war will be senior students. Roughly of your own age from telling what I can see from you. Although this fact is certain, I will always despise the fact that the youth will be the ones to fight to the death for something older men had created for such a long period of time, something I'll truly regret after accepting the fate of the Holy Grail. But it is the only way to obtain the Holy Grail." Kotomine expresses his views without showing any emotion. I can understand why he doesn't want a young generation to fight this war. If it were his own kids fighting then I would be worried if I were him.

"Are you ready to leave?" He looks at me with a glare of hope in his eyes.

I give a nod. "Yeah, I'm ready." I become determined.

As we all part to the doors of the church, I stop and turn my head towards Lux who was walking behind.

"Lux, I don't know who you are, or what your intentions are, but one thing is certain; the next time we come in contact, I know for sure we'll be enemies" I tried to look cool as I turn my head facing forward.

"Hmph" I can feel Lux smirking behind me, agreeing with my statement. I guess that's his way of saying bye for now.

"Oh! One more thing my boy! You need a name!" Kotomine calls out to me.

I stop. "Call me... X" I tried being cool, waving the back of my hand as continued walking forward with a confident smile on my face.

X... it represents the unknown. But this is the closest thing I'd prefer to a name more than anything. Yeah, my name is X. I'm here to win the Holy Grail War. This is where everything truly begins...

FATE/X


End file.
